Our 3 Most Anticipated New JRPGs

2020 has been a pretty good year when it comes to the new JRPGs that were released. Earlier on in the year we got to see Tokyo Mirage Sessions and Dragon Ball fans once again get to play through the story of Goku for the 100th time. The Yakuza remaster made its way onto the PS4. And Persona 5 Royal came out featuring a whole new semester and characters. 

Square Enix blessed us with a remake no one truly believed was real until they played it in Final Fantasy 7 Remake. And on the topic of remasters and remakes, we received the XenoBlade Chronicles Definitive Edition, which was a joy to play. 

Atlus surprised everyone with a sudden release of Persona 4 Golden on Steam, which makes this PC player very excited for future Persona titles. Trails of Cold Steel 4 dropped, Ghost of Tsushima was breathtaking. It’s fair to say we weebs were treated pretty well this year.

So what’s to come looking forward into 2021(hopefully) in terms of new jrpg’s? I want to have a look at 3 titles that I am personally very excited for. Let’s begin!

Tales of Arise

Our tale begins with two people, born on different worlds, each looking to change their fate and create a new future. Featuring a new cast of characters, updated combat, and classic Tales of gameplay mechanics, experience the next chapter in the world-famous Tale of series, Tales of Arise.

Honestly, we really don’t know much about Tales of Arise at all as Bandai Namco hasn’t released much information on the game since its original unveiling. Despite that however, I am still very excited to play this new addition of the Tales Of series. I greatly enjoyed my time while playing Tales of Berseria and I am waiting for the right time to get started on Tales of Vesperia. 

What we know so far is that the game will be centering on the two main characters shown in the announcement trailer and the powers they have seem to come from one another. Two people who come from very different backgrounds, the man Alphen and the girl named Shionne. A huge change is that Bandai Namco has switched from using their in-house engine to using Unreal Engine 4. Then within this engine they will be creating custom shaders to give the game its more familiar look. From the screenshots and videos shown, Tales of Arise will be a stunning game with a fast-paced and dynamic battle system. 

Final Fantasy XVI

The land of Valisthea is studded with Mothercrystals—glittering mountains of crystal that tower over the realms around them, blessing them with aether. For generations, people have flocked to these beacons to take advantage of their blessing, using the aether to conjure magicks that let them live lives of comfort and plenty. Great powers have grown up around each Mothercrystal, and an uneasy peace has long reigned between them. Yet now the peace falters as the spread of the Blight threatens to destroy their dominions.

When it comes to the world of FF16, the above is all that we have been told so far. We can piece together bits of information from the original trailer, that being that the world seems to be in that of a Western setting and in a medieval period. Chosen characters are blessed by the summons and become known as “Dominants”. 

Our main character is called… Clive. A name I have no problems with, but it’s certainly quite a departure from Square’s usual naming conventions. Noctis, Cloud, Squall, Lightning, Clive. It’s mildly amusing to me. The main things that excite me for this game, outside of being an avid FF fan, is the way they seem to be taking the story and the new battle system. 

With regards to the story, I find the simplicity of a revenge story somewhat refreshing when it comes to an FF title. Sometimes simple is best and it’s a motivator that a lot of players can enjoy and get behind. Combat-wise I am a fan of Devil May Cry V and therefore very excited to see where they take the combat of this game. A system that isn’t intimidating, yet has some depth to it.

Persona 5 Strikers

Looking for some rest and relaxation, the Phantom Thieves set out to begin their road trip, until a ruthless Kyoto detective enlists their help investigating a series of strange cases occurring across Japan… otherwise, he’ll arrest Joker. As they dig deeper into the mystery, they discover another realm where innocent people are being jailed and forced to forfeit their hearts’ desires by the whims of its ruler. In typical Phantom Thieves style, they’re going to use everything they’ve got to liberate the imprisoned, return their hearts, and strike back against the corruption in their most explosive fight yet!

Long have we Western Persona 5 fans waited for the day when Persona 5 Strikers would finally be available. It isn’t here yet, but we know that it’s coming and that ‘s all I needed… For now. The events that happen in this game come straight after what happens in Persona 5, so we’re actually going to be getting a sequel story to Persona 5, which is awesome! 

Persona 5 was my entry into the Persona franchise and I absolutely adored it so much that I went back and played Persona 3 and I am almost finished with Persona 4 Golden. I also massively enjoy Musou or Dynasty Warriors games, so Strikers will be an interesting mix-up of the genres and will hopefully result in a great experience.